The creative industry often gets blindsided in the Parliamentary side of things, only brought up and discussed in terms of achieving yardsticks and how it’ll benefit the economy as a utilitarian fucntion.
The deeper aspects of art (having art for art’s sake) have never been properly explored within the confines of the Parliament House, but newly minted Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Kok Heng Leun proved that this won’t be the case anymore. The theatre stalwart and artistic director of theatre company Drama Box made a passionate speech about the importance of the arts yesterday in his very first as NMP — and it’s paramount that you pay attention.
It’s an empowering speech that’s being championed by the figures of Singapore’s creative community. W!LD RICE artistic director Ivan Heng agreed with Kok, stating that the absence of the arts in the Budget Speech is a “glaring omission”.
“The truth is, the leadership has yet to fully comprehend the role of art in society,” Heng says on his Facebook page. “The suspicion and shoddy treatment of artists and censorship seriously stymies our development as a nation.”
Though the video above only contains a portion of Kok’s 20-minute speech, you can read his whole oration below:
Dear friends, Here is NMP Kok Heng Leun’s response to the Budget Speech. As he points out, the fact that no mention of…
Posted by Ivan Heng on Tuesday, 5 April 2016
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